From the Express News this morning - Im all for cupcakes!!! S.A. schools have own cupcake recipes By Alia Malik and Francisco Vara-Orta STAFF WRITERS When newly installed Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller made “amnesty” for cupcakes his first official act this week, he said he was calling attention to a little-noticed lifting of a state ban on sugary baked goods in public schools. He celebrated the liberation of cupcakes along with the recently enacted federal spending bill that released schools from tightened nutritional rules in their cafeterias. “We’ve been raising big, strapping healthy young kids here in Texas for nearly 200 years and we don’t need Washington, D.C., telling us how to do it,” the cowboy-hatted Miller averred Monday. The next step in returning local control to school districts will be to get his department to overturn its remaining rules banning the sale of soft drinks and the use of deep fryers at schools, he said. But San Antonio school district nutritionists said health concerns, not bureaucratic red tape, were the ingredients of their cupcake policies, and the state’s action likely won’t change them. They said the agriculture department got rid of most provisions of its Texas Public School Nutrition Policy because federal rules had expanded to cover snacks sold during the school day — and schools must adhere to that if they want to be reimbursed under the federal school lunch program. But those rules don’t stop parents from sending sugary treats to school with their kids to share at birthday parties. Neither did the state rules, after a clarification that Texas lawmakers baked up in 2005, a year after the agriculture department first published its policy. The new federal rules are stricter than the state’s, “but in other ways, it gave loopholes that Texas didn’t have,” said Sharon Glosson, head nutritionist at North East Independent School District. “They don’t have any rules about things that are given away for free. They’re just addressing things that are sold.” So, schools now can give away cupcakes during the school day — but “we’re not planning to make any changes as a result of this,” Glosson said. “We feel like the wellness policy that we have in place is working for our schools and our parents are happy with it, but we do leave a lot of control up to the school principal.” When it comes to parent-supplied cupcakes, local school district policies vary. NEISD requires the treats to be store-bought to ensure they were prepared in a licensed facility and ingredients are labeled for students with allergies. So does East Central Independent School District, which allows them if distributed in the last 15 minutes of the school day, “because we don’t want to take away any instructional time from our students,” said Ashley Cholis, a district spokeswoman. San Antonio Independent School District allows cupcakes and other sweets for student birthdays and seasonal holidays, but school officials encourage parents to send healthier snacks, district spokeswoman Leslie Price said. Northside ISD students are allowed to bring cupcakes for birthday parties at the end of the school day, including homemade ones, though parents are encouraged to opt for the prepackaged kind. And they can consume whatever sugary desserts come packed with their lunch from home, Child Nutrition Services Director Thomas Wherry said. Students also can eat sugary stuff up to three times a year in schoolwide celebrations, which the principal designates. “There hasn’t been a cupcake problem,” Susan Combs, the former state comptroller who pushed for the state rules when she was agriculture commissioner, said by phone this week when asked about Miller’s announcement. But there is an obesity problem, she said, adding she was “surprised and saddened” that Miller wants to allow soda pop and deep fried foods back in schools. “I continue to be very concerned about children’s nutrition and I don’t think making light of it is very helpful,” Combs said. [email protected] Austin Bureau reporter Madlin Mekelburg and Staff Writer Maria Luisa Cesar contributed to this report.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 18:08:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015